On 9th August 2020, Piyush Vedprakash Goyal, Union Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry and Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal & Mines dedicated the Railway Museum at Hubballi, Karnataka to the Nation in the event over a video conference presided by Suresh Angadi Channabasappa, Minister of State for Railways.
The Railways Museum at Hubballi is the first of its kind in North Karnataka and the second in the Southern Western Railways after the historic Rail Museum at Mysuru.
Aim of the Museum:
To preserve and portray the heritage of various branches of the Railways and to showcase the evolution of the railways.
About Hubballi Railway Museum:
i.The museum is located next to the second entry of Hubballi railways station which holds the historic items of the railway heritage from the past.
ii.The museum is a monument illustrating the transformation of the railways from the steam era to the modern bullet train era and the progress on the permanent way, rails, sleepers, track fitting, telecommunication, electric items and other technologies.
Features:
i.The Highlights of the Railway Museum include Galaxy of Rolling Stock, Malaprabha and Ghataprabha cottages, Theatre Coach, Suruchi Cafeteria, Toy Train, Memorabilia Shop, Ticket Printing Machine, Model train run, Children’s Activity Room.
ii.The artifact of the museum is arranged in three sections – two cottages – Malaprabha and Ghataprabha and the outdoor section.
iii.Malaprabha Cottage features the charcoal sketches, booking office with ticket counter, printed tickets, iron cash chests, 150-year-old parcel weighing machine, antique furniture and others.
iv.Ghataprabha cottage features signal instruments, history of locomotives, wagons, coaches is presented along with antique Books and Plants.
Note:
The two cottages, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha, which were constructed in 1907 are named after the rivers of the region.
Key Points:
i.Due to the current COVID-19 situation the visitors of the Museum are restricted to only 30 members at a time.
ii.Railways has pledged to contribute to 5 trillion economy and Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
iii.The Railway ministry is working towards achieving 100% green Railways by converting railways as fully electrified.
Recent Related News:
i.For the 1st time in the world, Indian Railways will directly supply power to Overhead Traction System of train.To achieve this feat, Indian Railways has recently set up 1.7 MWp (megawatt power) at Bina (Madhya Pradesh) which shall be connected directly to Overhead Traction System.
ii.Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal informed that Indian Railway(IR) Ministry plans to electrify all broad gauge(BG) routes by December 2023.
About Ministry of Railways:
Union Minister– Piyush Vedprakash Goyal
Minister of State– Suresh Angadi Channabasappa
